GoFundMe Removes New Black Panther Party Page From Its Website

October 2, 2014

GoFundMe, an online crowd-sourcing platform that allows individuals and groups to raise money for a variety of causes, today removed the New Black Panther Party’s (NBPP) GoFundMe page. ADL contacted the company yesterday, informing them that the NBPP’s use of the site appeared to violate their terms of service (TOS).

The NBPP, the most prominent organized anti-Semitic and racist black militant group in America, was using GoFundMe to solicit donations to support the group’s activities despite the fact that GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit using the site for promoting “hate, violence, racial intolerance...” and“content associated with hate groups.”

Before it was taken down, the NBPP’s GoFundMe page showed that the group had raised $700 on the site from 19 people. The NBPP’s stated goal was to raise a total of $20,000.

By taking on racially-charged issues under the guise of championing civil rights, the NBPP has received national media attention for its efforts, garnered some support from prominent members of the African-American community, and attracted followers. The group's demonstrations, conferences, and other events often blend inflammatory bigotry with calls for violence, tarnishing its efforts to promote black pride and consciousness.

ADL applauds GoFundMe for enforcing its TOS and not allowing hate groups like the NBPP to exploit the site to raise funds that will be used to promote racist, anti-Semitic, and hateful messages.

ADL is a leader in combating the spread of hate online. Last month, ADL announced the release of a series of Best Practices for Responding to Cyberhate, created with contributions from a working group of top industry leaders, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and others. ADL also empowers internet users themselves to flag hateful content through ADL’s Cyber-Safety Action Guide, which enables the community to register concerns with Internet service providers when they encounter hateful con­tent.